Response : Triethylsilyl Cations

Silylium Ions: From Elusive Reactive Intermediates to Potent Catalysts

The history of silyl cations has all the makings of a drama but with a happy ending. Being considered reactive intermediates impossible to isolate in the condensed phase for decades, their actual characterization in solution and later in solid state did only fuel the discussion about their existence and initially created a lot of controversy. This perception has completely changed today, and silyl cations and their donor-stabilized congeners are now widely accepted compounds with promising use in synthetic chemistry. This review provides a comprehensive summary of the fundamental facts and principles of the chemistry of silyl cations, including reliable ways of their preparation as well as their physical and chemical properties. The striking features of silyl cations are their enormous electrophilicity and as such reactivity as super Lewis acids as well as fluorophilicity. Known applications rely on silyl cations as reactants, stoichiometric reagents, and promoters where the reaction success is based on their steady regeneration over the course of the reaction. Silyl cations can even be discrete catalysts, thereby opening the next chapter of their way into the toolbox of synthetic methodology.

Origin of the 29Si NMR chemical shift in R3Si–X and relationship to the formation of silylium (R3Si+) ions

The origin in deshielding of ²⁹Si NMR chemical shifts in R₃Si–X, where X = H, OMe, Cl, OTf, [CH₆B₁₁X₆], toluene, and O_X (O_X = surface oxygen), as well as ⁱPr₃Si⁺ and Mes₃Si⁺ were studied using DFT methods.

IR Spectrum and Structure of Protonated Monosilanol: Dative Bonding between Water and the Silylium Ion

We report the spectroscopic characterization of protonated monosilanol (SiH₃ OH₂⁺ ) isolated in the gas phase, thus providing the first experimental determination of the structure and bonding of a member of the elusive silanol family. The SiH₃ OH₂⁺ ion is generated in a silane/water plasma expansion, and its structure is derived from the IR photodissociation (IRPD) spectrum of its Ar cluster measured in a tandem mass spectrometer. The chemical bonding in SiH₃ OH₂⁺ is analyzed by density functional theory (DFT) calculations, providing detailed insight into the nature of the dative H₃ Si⁺ -OH₂ bond. Comparison with protonated methanol illustrates the differences in bonding between carbon and silicon, which are mainly related to their different electronegativity and the different energy of the vacant valence p_z orbital of SiH₃⁺ and CH₃⁺ .

Cations and dications of heavier group 14 elements in low oxidation states

This review gives an introduction to the synthesis, properties, and reactivity of the cations and dications of the heavier group 14 elements in their low oxidation state.

Stable silyl, germyl, and stannyl cations, radicals, and anions: heavy versions of carbocations, carbon radicals, and carbanions

The rapidly growing chemistry of the cations, radicals, and anions based on the group 14 elements heavier than carbon (Si, Ge, Sn, and Pb) is one of the most important organometallic fields. Recent developments in this research area moved such species from the class of short-lived reactive intermediates to the class of easily accessible, isolable, and fully characterizable compounds. In this Account, we deal with the major accomplishments in the field of the stable representatives of "heavy" cations, radicals, and anions.

Norbornyl cations of group 14 elements

Norbornyl cations of the group 14 elements Si --> Pb have been synthesized from substituted 3-cyclopentenemethyl precursors by intramolecular addition of transient cations to the C=C double bond of the 3-cyclopentenemethyl substituent (pi-route to norbornyl cations). The norbornyl cations 4a (E = Si, R = Me), 4e (E = Si, R = Et), 4f (E = Si, R = Bu), 4g (E = Ge, R = Bu), 4h (E = Sn, R = Bu), and 4i (E = Pb, R = Et) have been identified by their characteristic NMR chemical shifts (4a,e,f, delta((29)Si) = 80-87, delta((13)C)(CH=) = 149.6-150.6; 4g, delta((13)C)(CH=) = 144.8; 4h, delta((119)Sn) = 334, delta((13)C)(CH=) = 141.5; 4i, delta((207)Pb) = 1049, delta((13)C)(CH=) = 138). The significant deshielding of the vinylic carbon atoms (Deltadelta((13)C)) relative to those of the precursor (Deltadelta((13)C) = 19.3-20.3 (4a,e,f), Deltadelta((13)C) = 14.6 (4g), Deltadelta((13)C) = 11.1 (4h), Deltadelta((13)C) approximately 8 (4i)) and the small J coupling constants between the element and the remote vinyl carbons in the case of 4h and 4i (J(CSn) = 26 Hz, J(CPb) = 16 Hz) give experimental evidence for the intramolecular interaction and the charge transfer between the positively charged element and the remote C=C double bond. The experimental results are supported by quantum mechanical calculations of structures, energies, and magnetic properties for the norbornyl cations 4a,b (E = Ge, R = Me), 4c (E = Sn, R = Me), 4d (E = Pb, R = Me), and 4e,f at the GIAO/B3LYP/6-311G(3d,p)//MP2/6-311G(d,p) (Si, Ge, C, H), SDD (Sn, Pb) level of theory. The calculated (29)Si NMR chemical shifts for the silanorbornyl cations 4a,e,f (delta((29)Si) = 77-93) agree well with experiment, and the calculated structures of the cations 4a-f reveal their bridged norbornyl cation nature and suggest also for the experimentally observed species 4a,e-i a formally 3 + 1 coordination for the element atom with the extra coordination provided by the C=C double bond. This places five carbon atoms in the close vicinity of the positively charged element atom. The group 14 element norbornyl cations 4a,e-i exhibit only negligible interactions with the aromatic solvent, and they are, depending on the nature of the element group, stable at room temperature in aromatic solvents for periods ranging from a few hours to days. In acetonitrile solution, the intramolecular interaction in the norbornyl cations 4a,e-h breaks down and nitrilium ions with the element in a tetrahedral environment are formed. In contrast, reaction of acetonitrile with the plumbyl cation 4i forms an acetonitrile complex, 10i, in which the norbornyl cation structure is preserved. The X-ray structure of 10i reveals a trigonal bipyramidal environment for the lead atom with the C=C double bond of the cyclopentenemethyl ligand and the nitrogen atom of the acetonitrile molecule in apical positions. Density functional calculations at the B3LYP/6-311G(2d,p)//(B3LYP/6-31G(d) (C, H), SDD (Si, Ge, Sn, Pb)) + DeltaZPVE level indicate that the thermodynamic stability of the group 14 norbornyl cations increases from Si to Pb. This results in a relative stabilization for the plumbanorbornyl cation 4d compared to tert-butyl cation of 52.7 kcal mol(-)(1). In contrast, the intramolecular stabilization energy E(A) of the norbornyl cations 4a-d decreases, suggesting reduced interaction between the C=C double bond and the electron-deficient element center in the plumbacation compared to the silacations. This points to a reduced electrophilicity of the plumbacation compared to its predecessors.

Mechanistic views on aromatic substitution reactions by gaseous cations

Recent advances in the understanding of the gas-phase reaction of aromatics with cationic electrophiles in a thermally equilibrated domain are described. The overall substitution reaction is analyzed in terms of its elementary steps. Their contribution to the overall reactivity pattern is dissected by the use of selected systems, which allowed one to highlight the kinetic role of single elementary events. Mechanistic studies have focused on the structure and reactivity of covalent and non-covalent ionic intermediates, which display a rich chemistry and provide benchmark reactivity models. Particular interest has been devoted to proton transfer reactions, which may occur in either an intra- or intermolecular fashion in arenium intermediates. A quantitative study of their rates and associated kinetic isotope effects is reported. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Mass Spectrom Rev 15(6), 365-389, 1997.